WK: Power of Nature- S3 - Episode 14 - Lies in the Light
by Taismo-89
Summary: Collab with Soul. The brothers remember an old friend, right when she was kidnapped by Amelia. But what if those memories weren't real? Only conjured by the very person they seek?


Otto arrived at Amelia's cabin with someone trapped inside a bag.

"You found her?" Amelia wanted to know.

"Precisely." The commander pulled a small figure out of the bag by their arm.

"I heard about your specific abilities. Are they true?"

"Y-yes..." the silhouette said, in a shy female voice.

"Good. You will definitely be of use to me."

"J-just please... keep your promise not to hurt them..."

"This… I can't promise," Amelia said, with a poisonous voice.

* * *

Today was another calm day in the park. Well, most people were calm in the park. At the moment, Martin and Chris were with Martin's future son-in-laws, watching Gavin fishing.

"These magnetic tags Aviva invented are surely better than hooks," he said, letting go of the fish he caught.

"Are you two sure you're okay? Because you've been kind of fidgety," Ronan wondered.

"We're fine, Gavin. Just feeling a bit out of place. I mean look at us. Black stripe and an earring." Martin pointed to the feature and accessory.

"I think they're cool," the younger boy said. "So… are you and Ventus… still not talking?"

"Not anymore. We finally put that behind."

Someone suddenly ran into Gavin, knocking his fishing rod out of his hand. The person was a teenage girl, well, at least looked like a teenager. She had dropped some kind of sketchbook and quickly picked it up.

"I'm so sorry! I'm really clumsy!" the young girl apologized with a bow of respect. Before the bros could respond, she dashed off into the forest. They were only able to see her tye-dye red, orange and yellow dress and her green, blue and violet hair.

"Who was that?" Martin asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen her around here before," Gavin said.

"Maybe she just moved," Ronan guessed.

"And she dropped something," Martin pointed out. He picked up a sparkly, rainbow pen with a clay WK symbol on the end.

"Maybe she's a fan," Chris thought.

"And it's a nice pen. We better find her and return it to her," Martin smiled.

"It's the right thing to do," Chris agreed. Then, they looked at it, and something flashed inside their minds. Like… some kind of memory.

"Wait… I know that girl."

"You do?" Gavin asked.

"Yeah… I know her too." Chris smiled. "It's an old friend of ours!"

"Old friend? Are you sure? I mean... she looked pretty young."

"Well, we remember her," Martin assured. "Now we better put this in a safe place."

* * *

In the Tortuga, Aviva cleaned everything in the HQ.

"All done. Spent the whole morning, but I finally cleaned up the whole HQ." Then, she saw Jimmy and his little brother entering. "Hey, Jimmy. Hi, Jake. How were things in the game trade convention?"

"A success! The controllers we sold gave enough money for us to help mom pay the bills!" Jake cheerfully said.

"That's great to hear!"

"Yeah… mom's job has been disappointing, so we gotta do what we can."

Martin and Chris stepped in, and placed the pen on Aviva's desk.

"Wow… where did you get this pen? It's so pretty," Mina wondered.

"An old friend of ours dropped it, and we're giving it back to her."

"Why, that's really nice." Mina smiled. "What's her name?"

"It's... Um..." Chris tried to remember. "Well, it's a little blurry now. Guess it's because we haven't seen her for a long time."

"Hm… that makes sense. Though I sense that something is going on here."

Then, the Tortuga's screen rang. Someone was calling.

"Amelia?!"

"How does she know our number?" Koki wondered.

"My boyfriend gave it to me," the geneticist answered.

"Oh… right."

"Anyway… you might be interested in this!" she pointed out to that girl from before, tied to a tree with Predators facing her.

"Hey! What are you doing to our old friend?!" Chris snapped.

"Oh… she's an old friend of yours? Even better," she snickered. "Okay, I want you all to come to this place, so we can negotiate. Her for a few certain stones. Go by the name of... the Elemental Crystals."

The team gulped. Meanwhile, David and Elsa thought they knew that girl from somewhere as well.

* * *

The team followed the exact coordinates from Amelia's call.

"Can't believe Amelia got our number from Klaus. And he probably got it from Donita, because SOMEONE called us when they got captured by her," Aviva accused.

"Hey! Don't blame me!" Martin snapped. "How would I know she was around when we were seeing draco lizards?"

"Anyway, I know now that we really need to change our number," Aviva took note.

"So what's the deal about the pen?" Jimmy wondered.

"We made this for her." Martin held out the pen. "She was moving away, and this was our goodbye present to her."

"We haven't seen her since we started our solo creature adventures," Chris added. "Oh, she was such a cute little girl…"

"She was a little girl? How do you know it's her then?" Koki wondered.

"She's older now. But we'd recognize that hair anywhere. She's always kept it that way," Chris explained.

"Okay… but what was her name again?" Mina wondered.

"Hmmm... Uh..." Chris tried to recall.

"Um... It's there, I know it is..." Martin mumbled. "I think it was Chloe. Yes, definitely Chloe."

"Chloe... I've heard that before..." David muttered. "Her hair, her name... What's her last name?"

"Hm… I guess it was... Chromosome, no..."

"Chroma?" Elsa gasped.

"That's it. Wait, you know her too?" Chris asked.

"We do, but her name is just Chroma," David stated. "Chloe is just an alias she goes by among humans. She's a Light Nymph."

"Like me?" Mina asked.

"No, just a normal Light Nymph."

"Normal Light Nymph?" Koki questioned.

"Yes… Light Nymphs have mental influences, like Mina can bring hope to others. But normal Light Nymphs can erase, add and even change people's memories, some going as far as mind control itself. However… it was never heard from many of them that lived long enough to tell it themselves."

"You mean… they're SHORT-LIVED nymphs?" Aviva gulped.

"Depending on how intensely their power is used… yes."

"Oh, dear… we MUST find her!" Elsa exclaimed. "Who knows what Cutter is making her do! She could be manipulating one of our minds right this instant!"

"Or... manipulating our memories," Ven said in realization.

"Now wait a second!" Martin retorted. "Our memories of Chloe are real!"

"What proof do you have that they're real?" David questioned. "You didn't even "remember" her name until we started discussing this."

"But..." Chris couldn't argue with logic, and neither could Martin.

"Alright. When we rescue Chroma, we'll ask her for the truth," Martin decided. "Things ARE pretty confusing."

 **"We are landing now,** " M.A.T.I. informed.

* * *

The team looked around the clearing. Amelia and her Predators were nowhere to be seen. Then, they heard someone coming.

"Something's coming…" David summoned his crossbow. "I'm ready."

"Wait! Don't shoot!" a young voice called. The girl from before ran around the corner.

"Chroma!" Elsa exclaimed in relief.

"Chloe!" the bros exclaimed. The young girl looked at the brothers with teary silver eyes. She forced a smile.

"You're safe!" Chris said, hurrying over to her.

"We missed you!" Martin added.

"It is you, Chroma," David said in shock, his weapon vanishing.

"But how did you get free?"

"T-that's not important! We gotta run! She must be around here somewhere!" Chroma feared.

"Right. Priorities first. Let's hurry to the Tortuga. Pronto."

* * *

The Tortuga took off at full speed. Inside of it, The Kratt Bros took their time to speak with "Chloe".

"So… you always wanted to shine?" Martin wondered.

"Yes… always. Shine as bright as a star in the sky. Feel important. Like my sisters, before…. they were gone."

"Oh, your sisters are gone? We're so sorry for this," Martin said. "Oh, and sorry if we don't remember you ever telling us in the past."

"Oh, speaking of the past. You dropped this." Chris handed her the pen. "Thanks to it, we remembered you."

"Th-thanks..." With shaky hands, she received the pen.

"Hey, I just noticed," Jimmy said. "She doesn't look hurt. Wouldn't the rope have left burns?"

"Um..." Chloe felt unsure.

"Maybe she took it off without Amelia noticing," Chris suggested. "I mean, no offense, but look at her. She's really skinny."

"Brothers, I don't think that's what happened," Ventus stated in a serious tone. "First, because Amelia has practically eyes on the back of her head. Second, her Predators would've been on guard, so she would've at least had a scratch. Third, by coincidence, Amelia had her in the first place. "

"But they're really ingenious too."

"Please... d-don't fight..." Chloe feared.

"We're not fighting, Chloe. We're arguing. That's different," Martin said. She gripped her dress.

"Don't call me that…. please... I don't… deserve this…"

"What? What do you mean you don't deserve this? It's our honor code to help anyone in need. Especially old friends." Chris smiled.

"I... I was never... I…" Chroma started sobbing, and rushed to the Tortuga's shell.

"Poor thing... she must be traumatized or something like that..." Chris felt worried.

"No… actually looks like she's not telling us something," Elsa said. "Chroma never was the best at explaining."

"Now, look here! She's too nice to be a liar!" Martin pointed out.

"I'm not saying she's a LIAR!" Elsa shrieked. "I'm just saying she appears to be hiding something very bad for us. Maybe even worse than being held captive by Amelia."

Then, they heard Chroma's shriek.

"Chloe?!" The brothers hurried to the roof. They found her sprawled and fainted on the floor. And flying above them, Amelia's plane.

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here! The pixie made everything work perfectly!" she proclaimed, sending her Predators to surround the team. They started attacking the Tortuga, and biting on its paws.

" **We have damage on the wings! We're going to fall!"** M.A.,T.I gasped. Jimmy rushed to the Tortuga's head, trying to land where it was safe. However, the HQ landed hard on the ground.

* * *

The team woke up, with the inside of the ship a wreck.

"Ugh… everyone okay?" Koki asked. Then, she looked to see the bat box fallen. "I'm glad Bites's passing the time with Artemis now."

"We're okay," Chris assured. "Chloe?"

"I'm alright," she said quietly.

"Guys, we're surrounded!" Jimmy yelped. The Predators were right outside, but they had stopped charging at the ship's wing.

"I don't get it. The Predators are not coming in," Martin muttered. "It's like they're avoiding us."

"Or maybe... Amelia ordered them not to hurt someone in here," David realized.

"Why would Amelia care about anyone that's not Klaus?" Sam questioned.

"Sh-she doesn't..." Chroma timidly said, tears in her eyes again. She moved some of her hair. The team gasped. It was an earring like tracking device.

"Wh-what? Chloe, you were tagged?"

Chloe didn't even answer in fear.

"Sister, please… tell us," Elsa told her.

"Chloe is not-" Martin was saying, until...

"Stop calling me that!" Chroma finally shrieked, with tears coming down her face. She had finally enough of that all. "I can bare it no more! I'm not your old friend, Chloe! You NEVER had an old friend Chloe! She's made up!" she sobbed loudly.

"I knew it… as any Light Nymph's able to do, she… manipulated your minds, filling it with false memories," David concluded.

"So... we never really met her?" Chris gasped.

"We were never friends..." Chroma admitted. "Never..."

"I'm sorry, David. And you too, Elsa. You were right." Martin looked down, ashamed for yelling at them like that.

"It's okay, dude. I can understand you were very confused," David said, leaving it clear there were no hard feelings.

Their chat was interrupted by Chroma's uncontrollable sobbing. She had enough of that.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." she weeped. "I was forced to do this by her..."

The team just watched, still feeling bad for her. There WAS something way worse happening. Chroma took a deep breath before explaining what was going on for real.

" _She found out somehow where I lived in secret. I was distant from other nymphs and from Mother Nature because I wanted to keep my powers and my life yet… well, here. I didn't want to go away like my sisters did._

" _When she found me, she told me about the Nature Guardians, and that David and Elsa were now part of the team. She threatened me, saying that if I didn't change your memories and confuse you, she would destroy Gaia's Tree and the Guardians along with it. I couldn't let either of those happen, even if I was trying to live as long as I could."_

"You did what she told you to protect the Tree and us..." Koki understood. "You did this to save lives… and even you didn't know the true consequences." The colorful nymph slowly nodded, not making eye contact.

"I'm so sorry, Guardians. I'm sorry _everyone_. I have betrayed my own people… my mother… the _planet_..." Chroma's eyes flinched, as more tears fell from them. Chris and Martin looked at each other.

"False memory or not, we won't let you get harmed anymore," Chris said heroically.

"W-what?" Chroma looked up in surprise.

"You're our friend! Now our REAL friend!" Martin declared. "You did lie to us, but you had a good reason. In your place, probably we would do the same… but one thing you should know about friends is that is NEVER too late to start over. No matter which kind of friend you're leading with."

The Light Nymph couldn't help but tear up and smile.

"Chroma… we'll be your friends, and we'll get you out of this situation. We promise," Chris assured.

"Awww, that's so sweet! Even though all she did was tell lies, you still try to save her!" Amelia fakes some tears, appearing at their doorstep. "Too bad this can't reach that poor cold as stone heart."

"You're the one with a cold heart, putting her in this situation!" Martin snapped.

"You threatened to destroy the Tree if she didn't do your demands!" David yelled. "You didn't give her a choice!"

"Ack! Enough talking! How powerful are her mind abilities again?" Amelia asked. The Light Nymph turned to her, somewhat angrily. "Like… able to change or even… ERASE memories?"

The team gasped, knowing exactly what Amelia was planning.

"So THAT'S your plan: you'll erase our memories, so we don't recall our own mission and lives!" Ventus realized. "You were using my brothers' memories as a test of her abilities!"

"Not bad for being the birdbrain brother."

"You're a cold-hearted beast, you know that?" Aviva shouted.

"Thank you, but kindness will not save you now, Air Guardian," Amelia proclaimed. "Pixie, destroy them! Erase their memories for good! Make them fear me! If you don't want me to destroy everything you Light Nymphs are sworn to protect, do it!"

Chroma looked down in fear. Then, she looked up at her new friends. If they could do anything to help her, even leave behind such a bad deed… so could her.

"No…" Chroma felt her head accumulating energy like crazy, from her fear and hatred.

"What did you say?" Amelia stared at her.

"C-Chroma?" David asked. Her hair started becoming white.

"NOOO!" Her fury finally exploded, in the form of a powerful force field. "I was afraid of failing the ones I cared for... I was afraid of dying too soon to be recognized… but you used me so you could get them out of your way, and that's even worse!" Her voice was distorted, as her eyes glowed white.

"Chroma!" David saw her eyes flinching in pain.

"If I wished, I could destroy you right now..." But then, the nymph relaxed her powers, as she read the team's minds. "But certainly my new friends would not approve this. They believe all life deserves to be protected. So I'll respect this."

"Chroma?" Martin feared.

"Your plan shall not be continued anymore!" Her eyes glowed even more, as she lifted her arms. She became surrounded by a circle of light. "No more barriers! No more lies!" She flinched as she concentrated all her might into undoing all the damage she caused.

Soon, the Kratts' memories started to return to normal. Then, Chroma sent a force field in Amelia's direction, sending her away.

" _Ich komme wieder,_ Wild Kratts!" Amelia sweared, as she disappeared. With the last of the memories restored, Chroma felt herself weaken, as she floated back to the floor.

David rushed to hold her. Chroma woke up slowly, really weak, having spent the last of her strength in that psychic outbreak. It soon started to softly rain.

"C-Chroma?"

"I… I'm sorry. I wish that… I wasn't forced to do all that I did…"

"We're sorry as well," Chris said to the team. "To all of you. We were too rushed to know the truth."

"Please… don't… we'll find a way..." David begged Chroma, as the girl's strength seemed to end. "You can't..."

"David, it's okay. I'll meet my sisters... all of them… I'll be happy… truly happy now that I really had friends..." she said and then coughed. "Kratt Brothers… keep it..." She took out the pen. "As a reminder of how you helped me...

"It was what allowed me to influence your memories. But its power goes far beyond this… I have no doubt you can find out how to use it for the right reason." The bros nodded, tears at the corners at their eyes.

"Thanks… friend." Martin smiled.

"I've seen… amazing things since I left my hideout… things that perhaps my sisters may have seen too… why haven't I joined them when I had the opportunity?" She smiled with happy tears. "All those moments and regrets will be lost… in time… like… tears in rain… Time to go," she said as she slowly closed her eyes for the very last time. Her body eventually glowed, and the light she became headed to the sky.

David bit his lip, trying to hold back his tears, as much as the team.

* * *

Some days later, on that same place where Chroma disappeared, the crew reunited.

"She did some things that none of us could understand." David was giving a speech. "Gifted with tremendous power… and cursed with it as well. An unknown, yet known good friend. One of the bravest people I have ever known."

He placed a flower under a quartz statue made by Chris. "Thank you, sister Chroma… for everything you have done for all of us."

David's sadness was now being reflected onto the team's sadness. Chris handed him a telescope, with such amazing color and style.

"We're sorry again for acting like that… It didn't really make sense… after all, her past with us wasn't real..." Chris sighed.

"She cared for all of us, enough to defeat Amelia, ands save the Elemental Crystals. THAT was real," Clarissa pointed out.

"Yeah… you're right," Chris agreed. David smiled at his girlfriend. Then, they all looked at the sky, and saw a star appearing in a small space in the sky, where there were no stars.

"Chroma..."

"A place to shine..." David gave them a weak smile. "All she ever wanted..."

"She deserves it," Mina chuckled. "She SO deserves it."

" **Looks like we got ourselves a very special guiding star,"** MA.T.I. said. " **It's pointing right to where we first saw her."**

The team looked up, with comforted smiles.

 _Elsa (voice-over): We will remember, for real, about our brave friend, Chroma, but not as a liar Light Nymph, but as a heroine… our heroine. And about Amelia… let's just say she gave us ANOTHER reason to prevent her intents of beginning a Predator War._

Meanwhile, far away from there, Klaus was bandaging Amelia's wounds, as she sobbed, as Otto simply watched.

"I was so close… so close..." Amelia cried.

"I hear you, darling. I hear you," Klaus assured. "They will all pay someday."


End file.
